The prior art shows a plurality of different chip cards which are used for credit purposes, for telephoning or for security tasks and information transmission. The chip cards usually have standard credit card format and are read in chip card readers designed in many different ways. Separate chip card readers are known for this purpose which are insertable into a receiving shaft in a computer to transfer chip card data to the computer. However, it is necessary or advantageous for diverse applications to connect two separate chip cards with a computer and make a connection between the particular cards.
It is known from EP 0 696 010 A1 to use two chip cards simultaneously with a chip card reader, the cards being insertable into the reader at different depths. The two cards are also insertable into a common receiving channel in which a projection is provided to cause defined positioning of the cards within the receiving channel. However, it can happen that a first inserted card gets caught on the projection, thereby impeding the insertion process.
GB 2 298 743 A discloses a chip card reading apparatus of the abovementioned kind. In this known apparatus as well; however, when one chip card is inserted into the corresponding channel there is always a possibility of the card getting caught on the projection or on the shoulder of the limiting wall provided for another card, which can make an insertion process difficult and tedious and damage the card.
The problem of the invention is to provide a chip card reading apparatus which permits two chip cards to be inserted into a receiving channel in simple fashion.